FIRST Pacific Bank is negotiating to buy PDCP Bank in the Philippines.
It has been reported that First Pacific Bank has offered to buy a 40 per cent interest in PDCP Bank, but no agreement has been reached.
PDCP is one of the Philippines' development banks and is the second bank in that country which First Pacific has approached for a possible equity purchase. The first was the International Corporate Bank (Interbank), which is majority owned by the state-run National Development Co.
Under the Philippines' General Banking Act, foreign companies are limited to a 40 per cent equity in local banks.
First Pacific Bank is under the control of Hong Kong listed company, First Pacific Bancshares Holdings, which took over two troubled banks, Hong Nin Bank in 1987 and Far East Bank in 1989.
PDCP Bank recently announced it would raise its authorised capital from 200 million pesos (about HK$56 million) to one billion pesos.
